How To Complain About A Company Or A Service

'Tis the season where we are out in the public much more through shopping, eating out and just being exposed to good and bad customer service. Those that know me well, know I will not hesitate to go above an employee's head and as high as the corporate office if necessary. I have done this a few times and have gotten various results, even have corporate reps and executives call and personally apologize to me, then rectify the problem.

There are right and wrong ways to get your way and let your voice and thoughts be heard. Here are some of the right ways.

1. Be proactive not reactive.

Don't lose your cool instantly but don't waste a lot of time in reporting the incident. If you're out and about, report it immediately, then go up the ladder until you get satisfaction. Prompt and quick, polite action can get you far.

2. Make your complaints at appropriate time periods and methods.

Emails and voicemails only go so far. Make sure you speak to a live person and or manager. Try not to call first thing in the morning or at the end of the day, or near a weekend. Your complaints will be best heard when the other party is most alert and focused on the task at hand.

3. Remember all pertinent information, and if out in public, record a video of the incident.

YouTube and WorldStar HipHol have been putting companies and people on blast for quite some time now. In addition to video evidence, gather employee and manager's names, descriptions, exactly what the problem is and how it was mishandled.

4. Diffuse the blame and make it interpersonal.

I realize this can be difficult. However, be sure to let customer service reps or anyone not directly involved that you are complaining against their company and NOT necessarily them. Often they are doing as they are told. This is when you need to do #5.

5. Climb the ladder as far up as necessary.

Know the basic hierarchy and try to stick to it when making complaints. Keep it in house if possible. If not, continue to make your voice heard and be relentless until this happens, even if you have to reach owners, CEOS, and the like.

6. Know your rights, regulations and use them.

You can do a lot of good for yourself when you understand the code of conduct and decorum. For example, restaurants have to comply to health and labor regulations, and phone services have to comply by the FCC. If it goes to the point of using legal council and law enforcement, by all means use your judgment and do it! You don't want to be the enemy, but places of businesses need to know you're no pushover.

OK well go get them and good luck!

Have you ever complained publicly about a company or a service? What useful tips do you have to add?

Corporations Can Be Vile and Powerful

Businesses have always intrigued me, even the old lemonade stands children used to have. However, I realized early on there many rules and regulations, often not followed, for a business to be legitimate.

This takes me back to when I was a child watching The Flintstones. Fred and Barney were on the side of the road trying to sell Gravelberry Pies. The police shut them down when they saw them and said they had to have to be licensed to sell pies. Too bad police don't bust more businesses for things like this now.

Businesses and corporations have been under fire for a number of years now. It's been over 10 years since the Enron debacle. Other corporations that are considered evil and vile include Wal-Mart, McDonald's, Microsoft, and even Facebook. Social media has gotten bigger, thereby making Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg more exposed and observed.

On July 11 of this year, (ironically my birthday), Viacom, producer of many television networks such as BET, MTV, VH-1, Spike, TV Land and Nickolodeon, made a brash move. They got greedy and were in discussions with DirecTV to try and charge customers a ridiculous amount to have and view their family of 17 channels. When they couldn't reach an agreement, they pulled their 17 networks on 7/11/12. This spawned an outcry from DirecTV customers and the general public. Viacom has thought to be evil for years for how they have turned channels such as BET and VH-1 into ignorant and buffoon filled programming stations. They tried to exert the power they have on the public onto DirecTV. It didn't work. Less than a week later, Viacom and DirecTV reached a long term agreement. The financial details are still uncertain, but DirecTV has assured its customers that there would be no significant increase to access any station from Viacom.

One would be remissed to leave Chik-Fil-A out of this discussion. They may have been founded on a Christian foundation by Dan Casey and have some of the best customer service you will find anywhere, and tasty chicken sandwiches. However, Casey mixed business with personal by expressing his views on gay marriage. Not only that, it has been reported that Chik-Fil-A has been giving tons of their proceeds to anti-gay organizations for years. This is not as evil and vile as some of the previously mentioned companies. However, if you're a public company , you can get into a ton of trouble if you openly try to exclude a group of people. Discrimination and equal opportunity laws are nothing to play with.

Corporations will do what they can to stay in business. Some will be good, and some will be bad. None will be perfect, however. Just remember that they do hold a lot of power in the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the websites we visit, and the decisions we all make. Therefore, we must choose wisely and have our own minds. Corporations definitely have their own minds, goals, visions, and missions.

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